The Top of the Mountain
by Promising-Silence
Summary: Fate will be changed. Promises will be kept. Braska, Auron and Jecht will persevere.


C**hapter** O**ne**

And you call yourself a summoner?

A/N  You be the judge as to how good or bad this is. 

"How do you fare, my lord?" A certain red-robed guardian asked his summoner. 

"I am fine, Auron. It is nothing to worry about. Let us take leave." Braska retook his firm grip on his battle staff. Now, as a summoner, he had to be prepared for fiends at all times. However, the few things that happened to be worse than unsent monsters were things not attackable by weapons. They were priests that held grudges.

As they walked through the halls of Bevelle, they held a silence that was mutual and could only be shared by friends. They both knew their destination that was none other than Via Purifico itself... the holds of the temple. They both had discussed the matter before. Even with the summoner leaving out a few important details, his only guardian was strictly against the Fayth's request. Braska knew of his guardian's opinion and completely understood it, but he was determined to honor such a small request. The Fayth were celestial beings and they deserved respect in all senses.

Auron's objection came as a surprise to the summoner, since he knew him to be very dedicated to the teachings. Yet, when he heard his objection, as a summoner, he had to disregard it in all matters of thinking. It was something that kept his mind occupied more many hours.

"Who are you?" A gruff man asked behind the temple's prison bars. He was lying on his side with his arm resting on the ground, propping his head. His appearance was strange enough, but his musk nearly overtook Braska. Auron knew that he would not be needed, so he took a spot near the exit. If this were a mere discussion, this would not take long and the stenches of body odor and alcohol were annoying. They had been in the trials for the duration of the night and had no idea how the man arrived.

"You are the one they call Jecht, the man from Zanarkand, are you not?" Braska asked. The man only seemed to disregard his statement by staying put on the ground. Apparently, many monks of the temple came to see the man that took out a whole section of the High Guard. To him, this was just another pointless display of "the man from Zanarkand."

"What of it?" He responded. 

_Such disregard! _"Watch your tongue, knave!" Auron ran to his summoner's side, ready to defend his friend's name and body. He had seen many men like the one before them and to put it in words... Jecht was officially a threat to his lord's well being. Braska acknowledged his objection with a nod, but it also meant for him to stay quiet.

"My apologies. I am Braska, a summoner. I've come to take you from this place." Braska stated. Having caught his attention, Jecht stood up.  
  
"Sounds sweet. What's the catch?" He asked. There wasn't anything free left in the world, to him at least, and an offer like couldn't be an exception. Braska laughed at the man's disregard for formality.   
  
"That easy to see, was it? I soon leave on a pilgrimage... to Zanarkand."  Braska responded.  
  
"Seriously?" Jecht asked. Braska nodded. _They sure got a strange way of speaking, but if the guy's going to Zanarkand... Who cares about the details?_  
  
"I would like you to join us. It will be a dangerous trip. Yet, if we do reach Zanarkand... my prayers will be answered, and you will be able to go home... we think. What say you?" Braska explained. Auron was still watching everything waiting for his turn to "object" again.  
  
"Great, let's go!" The man said eagerly.  
  
"So quick?" Braska raised a brow at his statement. His mind was thinking that this man had some underlying intention.

"Anything to get outta here!"   
  
"Then it's settled." Braska said with a smile. There was nothing to fear from the man, he simply wanted freedom.

"But I must protest! This drunkard... a guardian?" Auron began. Braska let out a mental sigh. Things normally did not go smoothly for him and this was no exception.   
  
"Hey! You want to step in here and say that?" Jecht challenged. He never was a person to back down from anything...  
  
"What does it matter?" Braska began a short speech. Auron stood silently. "No one truly believes that I, a fallen summoner wed to an Al Bhed... could possibly defeat Sin. This is what they say. No one expects us to succeed." 

"Braska, sir..." Auron tried to intervene, but to no avail.  
  
"Let's show them they're wrong. A fallen summoner, a man from Zanarkand... and a warrior monk, doomed to obscurity for refusing the hand of the priest's daughter. What delightful irony it would be if we defeated Sin!" Braska ended happily. The idea of defeating Sin seemed to cheer up any person... except Jecht.  
  
"Stop gabbin' and get me outta here!" 

A female warrior monk turned off a sphere in the background and Braska quickly approached her.

"If I take responsibility for this man, may he be released?"

"Yes... milord summoner. If you wish such a thing." The monk looked at Auron for a moment after speaking, and then turned away.

"Hey!" Jecht complained. The warrior monk only rolled her eyes within her helmet. A moment later, the summoner nodded.

When the jail bars rose, the man from Zanarkand strode out with confidence. He quickly paced over to the waters of Via Purifico to overlook the water that flowed there. He had heard it consistently through his midnight rest.

"Ahh... Free at last!" He shouted with a small bit of happiness.  
  
"Now, Jecht...I am in your hands until we reach Zanarkand." Braska stated.   
  
"Right, right. So... What's a summer-ner, anyway?" 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_You are the one..._

_You could be the one to stop our dreaming... before it is too late..._

What dreaming? Who's talking to me? I thought to myself. My gaze frantically wandered all around myself, hoping to find the speaker. Unfortunately, I only saw the real world with nothing out of place. 

At 15, I was a girl with olive skin and long dark-brown hair. I was usually a very conservative girl when it came to clothes.

"Somethin' wrong, Crystal? Are you looking for somebody?" My friend asked me. We were simply eating lunch at school. She was a bit taller than me, with dirty blond hair down to her shoulders.

"Yeah... I got voices in my head." I stated sarcastically and laughed at myself, but my friend just didn't see the joke.

"RIGHT. So did you understand that assignment in Algebra?" 

"Yeah. Well... sorta. Did you?"

"What?! Crystal not understanding the math work?! What's this world coming to?! Crystal!!" The girl, who wishes to be called Amber, took a firm grip on my shoulders and shook me like there was no tomorrow. After she stopped, I laughed. She was just too energetic for her own good. 

"Heh. Okay."  Another bite of pizza magically went missing and looked to Amber.

"Crystal! Wha--What's happening to you?!" With a terrified look on her face, she pointed to my arm. It seemed to be disappearing with a blue aura surrounding it. I wasn't one to panic... so I looked at my friend with a straight face.

"I don't know, Amber..." My whole body was beginning to change color and soon after, I couldn't see my own hand. A feeling of fear took over my body and I felt the weight of it in my chest. I looked around to see people staring at me... as if I was a ghost. Other people I knew shouted out my name from the distance, but I couldn't see them. All that surrounded me now was darkness. Somehow, my consciousness left me.

_YOU are the one... do not forget that._

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-__

The heat of the sun was all I could feel.  A cold breeze threw my hair around and my eyes began to open. Greeted by odd surroundings, I began observing the world around me. The ground was no longer school cement, and the air was too cold to be my homeland. Unfortunately, a sharp pain overtook my head before I could make any realizations.

_Headaches..._ _I DON'T get headaches._

I stared blankly at the ground around me for a few seconds before realizing where I was. 

_The Calm Lands!_ _Oh my God! Help me! I'm in the Calm Lands!_

The dizziness of a night's sleep disappeared and was replaced by a sense that I was out of place. I knew that I was not meant to be here. Fantasies weren't always meant to be real. I turned around taking in the sights of the place. The headache was still there though.

"Wha...?" It was all real. The dirt on the ground, the smell of grass and flowers in the breeze. All reality. Usually, I took my time on things, but my situation sent my mind in an absolute craze.

"Okay. So I'm here. Now what?" I asked myself. I saw the Al Bhed store on my far right, and Macalania in front of me... but both were good deal away. I made a mental checklist, felt my backpack on my back, glanced at my boots on my feet and finally decided that walking to the store would be a good idea. This wasn't a video game any more and I didn't have time to spare. I needed to find my way home or why I was there... pronto.

My mind was filled with questions that needed answering, and thoughts that needed thinking. All about my "situation." All about Final Fantasy X.

A few minutes after arriving in Spira, I noticed two things lying on the ground. Cautiously, I walked up to the items and took them out of the resting place

_The Godhand? Is God giving me this? Neat._

I picked up the targe next to it and found a way to put it on. The next thing I knew, a mass of pyreflies appeared and an image of a 15-year-old Rikku appeared.

"Rik...ku?" I questioned. She didn't reply at all to what I said.

"It's all yours! Whack those fiends into the ground with it!" She told me happily, but her perky face soon was soon lost to seriousness.

"You'll need this mighty good Godhand. I can do without. Good luck!" I simply blinked as the image of her faded into nothing and the pyreflies disappeared into the unknown. Rikku had supposedly given me the Godhand... but where was she? I sighed. Another question that needed to be answered... it was all just fine and dandy with me!

"I'm asking too many questions. Best to move on, I guess." I stated.

_Moron._ I berated myself for not knowing the details of it all. I usually knew what was going on around me and I liked to be informed. Ignorance wasn't healthy for me, but a fiend interrupted my thoughts.

_Five minutes have barely passed--and I'm stuck dealing with fiends?!_

I took a deep breath and flicked back my hair. The fiend let out a hideous growl and crouched down, readying its attack. My chest felt tighten as I looked the unsent beast in the eyes. With a quick jerky movement, I turned my targe towards the fiend and clenched my hand that held the Godhand. 

The battle would be the first of many... for my life.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

*Gulp*

I may edit this A LOT... beginnings are always hard to make.

My first chapter! Please tell me what I need to improve on! 

Grammatical errors... here and there, I try to avoid any. If you like, point them out. I lost my grammar notes. -_-;

Self-insertions are my speciality, and no, I'm not just sticking myself in ffx. For those who care, I will be giving some insight into how I think Braska's pilgrimage played out, with some changes of course.

Ciao.


End file.
